Been scammed with empty box claim

[gavrook]

Sold an expensive item (over $500) on eBay and buyer lodged an "item not received" claim 2 days later saying they received an empty box, they immediately escalated it to eBay to rule on, not giving me a chance to investigate or provide any proof. I spoke to someone on the phone at eBay who basically told me as they lodged it as an "item not received" and not "not as described" and tracking  showed received the claim would be closed in my favor.

This happened but then a couple of days later I got an email saying the buyer appealed and eBay has now ruled in their favor and have taken the money out of my account. I contact eBay again and the guy on the phone agreed with me that this was an obvious scam. The buyer has a brand new account and 0 feedback, i have been a member for 24 years and have well over 1000 transactions and 100% positive feedback.

He said he would escalate it and put his name all over it with his opinion that this was a scam but the offline team have emailed me saying they won't be changing their mind that the buyer has provided enough proof that he received an empty box and i need to pay up. They refuse to tell me what proof he has provided (a picture of an empty box?) They didn't even give me a chance to investigate with Australia Post or provide my own proof, they are no longer responding to my emails. The buyer also redirected it from the home address on the order to a Parcel Locker which could be sus.

I will be closing my eBay account if it's this easy to be scammed, this whole ordeal has been ridiculous.

[gavrook]

I did that, they said go ahead and provided me the link to cancel it.

[gavrook]

I'll give that a go, unfortunately it seems they have stopped replying to me so I don't know how to speak to someone. The people on the phone claim they can't do anything other than escalate to the offline team, who don't seem to be speaking to me anymore 

[designers*n*more]

Persist with the phone call. Ask to speak to a supervisor and as said, throw their own policy back at them. Tell them it’s not good enough, nor is it acceptable. They may refund you out of their own pocket, (I’ve had similar c@#p happen for item not as described, and they refund me without requiring the buyer to send back. It’s worth a try. Let us know how you go.

[collectocopia]

Don’t ever change the address to one that isn’t registered with eBay, I made that mistake years ago, a woman registered in California wanted it sent to China, of course she claimed she never received it and I had no leg to stand on

[springyzone]

I'm convinced you were scammed, for the simple reason that had the package been damaged in transit, the buyer would have noticed and reported it to staff when he picked it up.

And the label on it would show the weight, as you said.

That's why the buyer can't afford to take it back, as the wrapping alone would come to under the registered weight and the first thing the staff would ask is what damage was there to the parcel when he picked it up and why didn't he report it then? It would have to have been torn and obviously empty for something to disappear from it after it was posted.

So okay, you have the label from ebay showing weight but more to the point, you have the parcel redirected by a 3rd party after postage and as others have said, this goes against ebay policy.

You are going to need to contact ebay again and again till you get someone who will listen. Don't threaten to leave ebay, they would just love for it to go away. And stay a member, at least till you get a refund.

Keep on it, polite but hammering their policy.

They don't want to hear about it because to admit a mistake will mean refunding you the $500 and they have already givent he buyer $500 which they can never get back. So it will be $500 out of ebay's coffers, which is why you are having a hard time of it. But keep persisting.

I am even wondering if this is something you could pursue in something like fair claims or at least metion to ebay you may pursue. Only on the basis though that the parcel was redirected and ebay found in the buyer's favour, even though redirection is against their own policy etc

[gavrook]

I raised a second appeal yesterday on the grounds that I was never given a chance to respond to the claim before it was decided and provide my own evidence. I just called up now to get an update I still hadn't heard anything, she told me the offline team had closed my second and final appeal without even contacting me saying it was already decided and they would not be changing their mind. I told her eBay had broken their own policy regarding mail redirection but she didn't care said nothing can be done and hung up on me! Small claims will be my next step I guess

[gavrook]

Thanks I will keep trying but I don't like my chances with them, they just say nothing I can do and hang up. small claims or VCAT will be my next step which I'm very confident of winning. Like you said they won't want to be out $500 as they've already paid the buyer of their own mistake but what's the point in all these fees for seller protection if it's useless? I've sold almost 700 items over almost 24 years, bought probably double that. They would have got tens of thousands in fees from me over the years! On principle I will never use eBay again if they don't refund me, clearly too easy to be scammed.

[imastawka]

I raised a second appeal yesterday on the grounds that I was never given a chance to respond to the claim before it was decided and provide my own evidence.

These are not grounds for an appeal.

An appeal will only be considered by ebay if there is new evidence provided.

Instead of whining talking to CS underlings about how you've been hard done by, you should have written your evidence into your appeal.

i.e the weight of the parcel posted and including a photo of such. 

Also the fact that they have ignored their own policies and then given them a link for that.

[gavrook]

It was over the phone, I advised them I had evidence I wished to submit, I couldn't exactly do that over the phone.

[gavrook]

They won't even talk to me anymore, as soon as I click yes when it asks if it's about that item it just says "Sorry, live support's currently unavailable."